Memorial Day Reflections - Part 1

It's Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm deeling busy Boston's News Radio.

Well, today was Memorial Day. It is a federal holiday. It's one that has been on the book since eighteen sixty eight, so it's been around for a while, over one hundred years. Over one hundred and fifty years, I guess pretty close to one hundred.

Yeah, no, no, it is.

Yeah, it's over one hundred and fifty years, and only half of Americans know what Memorial Day represents. There's a new research that was done by a group called Talkerresearch dot Com. It's brought to my attention by one of my listeners, Andrea Shocking. Data revealed that in a new survey of two thousand Americans, forty eight percent of respondents knew that Memorial Day is a holiday honoring military personnel

I'm just going to give you the headlines here.

Older generations by and large more likely to know the exact definition.

Of Memorial Day when compared to younger Americans.

Only twenty seven percent of Gen Z respondents selected the correct definition, as well as just thirty eight percent of millennials. So the younger you are, the less you would know. Baby boomers from most. On top of it, fifty six

Well, the thing that's interesting about this is that this is a this was done.

This survey was taken between May ninth and May fifteenth.

Okay, so.

His three percent of the public felt Memorial Day commemorated the founding Fathers in their role in American independence, two percent to honor past presidents who served in the military, two percent. Look, the real purpose of Memorial Day is to honor military personnel who died in service to our country.

But it is.

It's as important as the fourth of July because without Memorial Day and the people who have served in the military, and and and died in service of the country, those who gave their they're all maybe the fourth of July would be a footnote in history, and there'd be some other country. We would always speak in German, Japanese or something some other language.

Let's go to the phone. Let me go to Steve and Cambridge.

Steve, I love it when you start off a topic for us because you always have an interesting perspective.

Steve, go right ahead. Thanks for calling it.

Dan.

I have some thoughts on Memorial Day, which I think when it was first founded was decoration Day.

I think you might be right on that, yep, because decoration refers to decorating gravestones with American flags and flowers.

I don't know, Okay, I'm not sure. Well, okay, I think one of my biggest thoughts on it, well, I have several and is that correct me if I'm wrong? But the holiday used to be observed on a particular date, not just on a Monday.

I think it used to be. I think it used to be May thirtieth, but I can check that out.

Okay, So you have a problem there because the day has become just another Monday off and people get in the car and go someplace. Loses the meaning of the day. At one time, like if it became in the middle of the week, people stayed in I live in Cambridge. They stayed in Cambridge. They didn't go away necessarily, and so therefore they attended the parades, they attended the observances of the city, and they might even get to know

I think you make a really great point, it says, I'm just checking out here. It said that in nineteen sixty eight Congress changed its observance. It was observed on May thirtieth. The first national observice was May thirtieth in eighteen sixty eight, and it remained on May thirtieth until nineteen sixty eight. So it was one hundred years later that Congress changed its observance to the last Monday in May, and in nineteen seventy one standardized its name as Memorial Day.

Well.

I mean, for example, Cambridge had a ceremony. The city had a ceremony in Cambridge Common for an hour and a half, and I thought that the city did very well by it. The councilors and the mayor restrained themselves from attacking Trump. I'm sure required a certain amount of restraint, and they really, you know, just talked about the sacrifice of so many Americans and that was good. But the problem is there. I mean, we had a reasonable crowd,

I totally agree with you with your point. I think Labor Day has always been a Monday. The fourth of July has not been changed. Obviously, this year, the fourth of July happens to be on a Friday, but you know, once every seven years, it's on a Monday. Once every seven years on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Thanksgiving has always been pegged, I guess to that last Thursday in November. Christmas obviously is always on the twenty fifth.

It's just funny.

Doctor Martin Luther King's birthday is always a Monday holiday. President's Day is a Monday holiday.

I'm not even.

Sure if the Fed's still well Columbus Day, it's all that's also now been turned into a Monday holiday. It used to be, you know, well President's Day used to be you had George Washington's birthday on the twenty second and Abe Lincoln's on the twelfth, so you learned a little bit of history. I wonder if they did a if they did some sort of a survey now, if people could tell you, particularly younger people, Lincoln's birthday and Washington's birthday they're not the same day.

And you know, as I say, Cambridge who was dead today, So there was I mean, we had a good ceremony and I was very happy that I went and I'm gonna you know, this is something I should do every year, and I admit that I haven't, but that is something we've lost by that.

I think it's a great observation, Steve. You always a very perceptive but you always bring an a game and you bring an obvious point. I think again, what has happened is that a lot of you know, commercial interests like to see the long three day weekend, and whether or not it's the start of summer as it is, I'm sure there are a lot of people who today are coming back from wherever and probably stayed over Saturday

It would have been next weekend. But you're right, I.

Mean it was a today in the middle of the week, people would take the day off and they probably stay closer to home.

Great observations.

Can I make one more observation?

Push again? Absolutely?

Well, you may have a few other people.

Who I don't know, I will, but your observations are always spot on.

To go ahead, Well, every time they talk about the wars, and they always say the men and women who died in the Civil War, the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, Vietnam. I think younger people are going to get the idea that during these wars there were a lot of women in the ranks and

Well, I think that women were killed certainly during the Civil War and during World War One and World War Two, maybe less so in Korea, but I think that there were a lot of women who were in the military as nurses. I don't think what we see today we see women. I was watching the ceremony with President Trump both at West Point in Annapolis.

There are a lot of women who are graduating.

In these days.

Yeah, these days. But I mean, for example, on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, d C. There are the names of fifty thousand American men.

Who died fifty eight thousand?

Is it fifty eight thousand? Do you know how many women are on that memorial?

How going to guess a couple of hundred?

No?

Eight?

Okay, Well, thank you very much, And that puts it in perspective. Steve great points again, times change and circumstances change, and there are a lot of women who are in the military today.

So that's true.

And I was very happy that I did go to the ceremony, and I take my hats off to the Cambridge government which ran a very nice ceremony.

I appreciate that. Thanks, thank you, Dandy.

We'll talk So I got one line at six one, seven thirty and one at six one seven nine thirty.

What did you do today?

Did you think about Memorial Day? Did you think about someone who you knew who died in service of the country, in the military, service of the country.

Coming back on Nightside, Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio. Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio.

Got to try to get everybody in here quickly go to Larry, down to the Cape. Larry, you're next on NISI go right ahead. You have thought some Memorial day.

Yeah, thanks for talking about this, Dan, I didn't get a chance to call in Friday in the twentieth hour.

Yep.

So I'd like to honor my father. At the beginning of the war, he went to work in the shipyard and then went into the Army Air Corps. He was a top ten gunner on a B twenty four Wow got shot down over Germany and his whole unit, the pilots, everybody bailed out and they got captured by the Germans and got into a prisoner war camp. This part of the story is what's unbelievable. When they lined up all the prisoners, I think I might have told you the story when they lined up all the prisoners and Nazi

I'll tell you, apple doesn't fall far from the tree. And it's amazing to think that what he experienced, including the pow camp. Thank god that his uh you know, the the captain of that ship, his plane was thank god they were they were all you know, did they all literally land in such an area that they all were picked up by the Germans together or the Germany.

Yeah, they were on a bombing mission over Germany and they all bailed out yep and ended up being they all they all were captured, the whole crew.

Okay, and all of them. I'm sure he kept in contact with all of them for the rest of his life.

You know, I don't think he did. He didn't talk about It was almost like what was the path that he just wanted them move forward?

Yeah, my dad, I've mentioned this before, but uh, my dad was in China, Bourman, India during World War two and he kept every Christmas he would write a long hand Christmas card to about eight of his buddies and he would get longhand Christmas cards back from them. There was one guy named Hitchcock who was in Wyoming, Paul Butler,

Yeah. So what I did to honor for a Memorial Day today where I live in Dennisport, and I had to laugh with the who's the guy that answers the phone today, your producer, and I told him I'm from Dennisport. He goes, is that in Massachusetts.

Well, all of our guys are not geography majors. I'm not sure where Noah is from originally, but at least he's asking questions. Just you got to have the courage to ask questions. Absolutely good.

You know, I couldn't get up to the Cormon where they were having a nice ceremony because there was actually a road race that came right through Dennisport, and our streets were blocked off to allow the runners to come through. So I went down the end of the street and I cheered on. I cheered all the runners on for doing this.

Yeah, I think that I understand.

I think that that also backing up what Steve said before, you having a road raise some Memorial Day distracts from what the purpose.

Of Memorial Day is.

Yeah, well, at least it was. It was it was an honor of veterans and to raise money for cancer. But I agree as soon as they moved the holidays to Mondays, it was like another day off.

You got it.

You got it, Larry, Congratulations. Hopefully your dad is listening to us tonight and he's very proud of your you know, recalling for us what he and his crew went through. Thank you so much.

Yeah, thank you, Thanks Larry.

Talk to you soon. By the way.

It's just doing some some research here, and there's an article which I'm reading which is an estimate and basically says that between five hundred and seven hundred American service women were killed during World War Two.

I don't know if that's.

You know, I'm just just googling stuff here, but obviously the American service women have died in combat in recent wars.

I know that in the War on Terror, I.

Think the numbers about one hundred and seventy three Afghanistan, I Raq, Syria, et cetera. So, you know, as more and more women joined the military and and get closer and closer and indeed on the front lines, Uh, they're going to suffer the same paid as others who engage in combat activity. We're going to take a break. Uh, the only line open in six one seven. Here's the

Back on Nightside after.

This, It's night Side with Dan Ray. Hey Dan, Boston's News Radio. You're on night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's News Radio.

All right, let's go back to the phones. If we go to Linda down and way with Linda. Welcome next on Nightside.

How are you hi?

Fine? Thank you? My dad has passed. But when he was alive on D Day, indeed on some of the different Veterans Days, he would call up fellow veterans, talk for a while, and you'll leave them alone for a couple of hours. I spent the day. I thought it was going to go to a parade, but they didn't have the parade down here in Weymouth. What they had as an extended it's called Freedom is not free Memorial

This was in Weymouth. That's right, No good, Weymouth did it right.

And.

Yeah, i'd see incorrected. I thought it was for all veterans. I used to work at the VA office.

No Veterans Day is Veterans Day.

Is Veterans Day, Okay, so that's when we honor all veterans. Memorial Day focuses on those who have served. By the way, based upon what my first caller, Steve said, there were eight women who died in Vietnam and they were all nurses. There were eleven thousand female nurses who volunteered. Excuse me, I didn't hear what you were saying while you were interrupting me, Linda.

Excuse me, I'm sorry I interrupted by My mom was in the the not the waves, but she was with First Days for the Veterans of World War Two.

Were she that's called Were those called the wax?

Yes, okay, I don't think she particular was in that particular brand.

Well, we're talking about eleven thousand women who served. We're just we're kind of talking over each other here, Linda. That doesn't work a lot, So let me just finish my sentence and then I'll let you have a final word.

Okay.

There were eleven thousand women who served in the American military in Vietnam. Many of them obviously were in the role of nurses, but many of them had ranks of captain and lieutenants, and they were on the front lines because the front lines were not well defined in Vietnam, and as they say, eight of them died of combat related injuries.

Go ahead, Linda.

First off, I stand correct that I apologize, but we had about I would say, about hundred people at the ceremony.

Oh good, yeah, yeah, we've covered that, Linda. Thank you much.

I appreciate your call, and thank you very much for your parents' service and your dad's service. Thanks talk soon. Let me go quickly here. I'm going to get to gym in south Hampton, Massachusetts. Is that Southampton, Massachusetts or Southampton New Hampshire gym? It's Massachusetts, okay, and it's Hampton ha mp to o n yes, okay, go right ahead.

So for this day, I'm a vocational high school teacher and I had a student who was killed in Iraq. Yeah, and so I always make a point to visit his gravestone on Memorial Day.

Wow, boy, that's Southampton. Are you out in the western part of the Stateum, I'm trying to locate that in my mind.

Yeah, it's west of Springfield.

Yeah sure, okay, so you are still a tea teacher and one of your students was killed in Iraq and you visit and you visit his grave every Memorial Day.

Boy, that's let me.

Tell you, that's quite an honor for him. And it also is I think really remarkable that as a teacher you would feel that connected to your students. I mean that, hats off to you, Jim. I wish there were more teachers like you. Do you use his passing to you to talk about him to the students. This recent survey that we quoted in earlier in the Hour would suggest that a lot of gen Zers really don't have quite a solid grasp on what Memorial Day is all about.

Yeah.

Actually, I kind of make a point. If I get older, I kind of mind my remind of like my father and grandfather always made a big deal of it, and as a kid, you didn't really think much about it at the time though it was important to them. But as I get older, I find a need to express that to my current students, and they always pause and think about it, you know when I talk about it. Whether it sticks with them, I'm not really sure.

Well, you know, look, I would suspect that if you did a survey of students who took your classes, they would do a lot better in terms of their recollection and understanding of what Memorial Day is all about because you took the time. I mean, again, what type of course do you teach? Are you in high school? You said you're a high school teacher.

I teach a landscaping in true care programs of vocational high school.

Okay, so therefore it's not part of your curriculum. But I think that sort of conversation, even if it's for twenty minutes someday, is invaluable for young people to realize that, know, people a little bit older than they went off to the military and did not come home.

I would agree. And you know, as a teacher, I mean I was in my early thirties when that happened. It wasn't something I expected to have to deal with as a teacher.

Yeah, yeah, no, no, absolutely absolutely. And I assume you probably started teaching before nine to eleven, correct, Yeah, so when you became a teacher, nine to eleven hadn't occurred. And I don't know what year your student, you know, graduated, but I suspect it was after nine to eleven. And he responded to the to the needs of the nation at that point and put himself in harm's way.

What Bridge did?

Did that young man servant if I could ask?

He was in the army and he was. He was a junior the year of nine to eleven, okay, and then instead of two years after high school and died not long after that. Yeah, so it was it was kind of a powerful thing at the time. I'm grateful to have been able to support kids through it, but it certainly was something you never thought about, you know, as a young person.

And people never think about mortality. Would you mind sharing as an honor to this student the name of the student with us?

Oh?

Sure.

His name was Matthew Bean.

Matthew Bean, like the E A N. Yes, Matthew Bean.

And he would have died I'm assuming at the age of twenty or twenty one something.

Yeah, it was in two thousand and five, so he was pretty young. He graduated in two thousand and three, Okay, so we would.

Have graduated at probably eighteen and so he probably would have been twenty or twenty one at most. Matthew Bean of Southampton, Massachusetts, Well.

Yeah, he was.

He actually lived in the town of Pembroke.

Pembroke, Okay, I'm sorry. In Pembroke on the south Shore.

Yeah, I used to teach it.

Oh okay, great, Okay, well that's good. I'm glad you you said that.

That's great.

No, that's thank you for that clarification. So you taught in Pembroke's Matthew Bean, being of Pembroke, Massachusetts. I drove through Pembroke today as a matter of fact, so I know exactly where Pembroke has. I had a tough locating exactly Southampton because there's also Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, and I was saying, gee, we talk in New Hampshire, Massachusetts.

But thank you for doing that today, and thank you for following up with the phone call tonight. It was really uh it's a memorable phone call.

And I really do appreciate, Jim, the type of relationship that you have had with your students. This speaks volumes about your your relationship with your students and your relationship with your profession.

We need more teachers like you, sir. Well, thank you, thanks, thanks so much for joining us tonight. Jim.

Matthew Bean, being of Pembroke Massachusetts pat killed in two thousand and five.

Boy, it's tough. We'll be back on Nightside right after this.

Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio. It's Nightside with Dan Ray on Boston's News.

I promise you we're gonna get Greg, John and Georgian. Let me start it off with Greg. He's been on the longest. Greg from Lindfield. Greg, next on Nightside. What do you do to this memorial day?

Greg?

I went to the cemetery, I turned the prayer this morning. Oh we'd love to hear the three guns in the taps.

Yeah did, But yeah, did have any one who.

Gave their life in service of the country.

I had a great uncle.

That died in World War One.

Obviously I never knew them.

My father served probably in the Army, and my grandfather served in World War Two and was a tank driver under General Patton.

But before I get into his story, which I want to tell you, like when you said five hundred two one thousand women died in World War Two, I think they should honor the women that died in industrial accidents building the war machine for this country, because.

There were a lot of women who worked on the home front. Absolutely, Rosie the Riveter was the epitome of that. No, I know, I know my history and you obviously know yours as well. But yeah, there were you know again they were not There are more women who have who died during the War on Terror. I think the number was one hundred and seventy three. I have to go

Well, there's more women serving men they were ever before.

Exactly, Yeah, that's exactly true.

So I want to get in a story about So my grandfather who got drafted in his mid thirties in World War Two, and he was a barber before that, and when he was in boot camp, his whole training group, battalion, platoon, whatever you want to call him, came down to measles and so for graduation because my grandfather was a barber. He trimmed everyone proper, shaved them all. And there was a they always had a general overseeing the graduation from your boot camp.

Yep.

Absolutely, And the general was like, these guys have been in quarantine for a month. How did they get all clean shaven? And someone mentioned to him that one of the guys was a barber. Yeah, and this is why I want to talk about the greatest generation. That my grandfather was approached by the general to be his personal barber.

That's good. How about that I missed it. He must have liked the way the troops looked. That's a great story, Greg.

And you know what my grandfather said, Like, you know what my grandfather.

Said, I bet he said, no, I want to stay with my men.

He did, and he went and saw a hell in the war. And he always he always said, he was like I should have been the barber for that year.

But Betty did the right thing. He did the right thing.

He did like he won a bronze star. He wow. But you know that's all I want to say.

I would say, I would say, you don't win bruns, you earned them.

Yeah, And anyone today would just take easy way out and.

Be like some would some would in some would, and there's a lot of young men and women today who do not who do the right thing and dotate these ways out, Greg, I love the story.

I got to get two more in here. Thank you, my friend. Great call.

Thank you.

Have a great night.

John and Dorchester. John, want to get you in one more in maybe go right ahead.

John, Hey, damn hey John, first time call up a long time listener.

The round of applause here from our digital studio audience.

If you want to.

I don't think no was able to find the button, but that's okay, go right ahead, Johnny.

You're one of my favorite people aligned with Jack Williams, Liz walks up.

And bob Blo belt, bob Blo bell ye bringing me back, bringing me back here, buddy, go ahead.

Tell you why I know all those people because after I get out of Vietnam. Oh, and I don't want to disturb your body and stand okay, but I'm going to be like the other nice gentleman and all the people that earlier gentlemen that talked it's emotional.

Yeah, I'm sure it's all about emotion, Yes, sir, So I come out of Vietnam after shooting people, and I worked with some of the nicest guys that you'd ever me.

But you know what they would do so they would feel good. They shoot up heroin and then we'd go out on patrol. Yeah everything, you know, so you know, boom and then we'd go out. But anyway, yeah, so I come back. I'm lucky enough to get the gi bill. I go to Harvard undergrad. I go to Harvard Medical School. I learned how to be a surgeon. And so I'm seventy nine years old. Dam Okay, I've been around. I've been around, all right. I know when did you get out of college? Did you go to Boston.

State A long time ago? Yes, sir, you went to Boston State, right, yes, sir.

Yeah, you went to with my brother. Okay you all right, long time ago, that was a long time.

So did you did you practice? Did you practice?

Yeah?

Boston Medical?

Wow?

Yeah?

Wow. Doctor Now it's no longer John from Dorchester. It's doctor John.

Go ahead, there you.

Go, all right.

That's why that's why I know the guy you talked to first times mountains. The other one was a sleep doctor. Yeah, and trust trustmen, Dan. When it comes to sleep doctors. They don't know how to operate on people. They don't know how to do any stasiology, and they don't know how to put people to sleep to make them feel better.

All right, all right, well, John, that's quite an experience from the jungle to to to the operating room.

I'll tell you that's right. It's really been something else then you've seen.

You've seen a lot of different parts of the world, not only geographically, but also uh in terms of the good, the bad.

And the ugly.

John, I'm up against it. I hate to run here. This is your first time calling. Come on back again and we can talk longer.

Okay, all right, thank.

You, thank you for your service. There's there's the applaud for you. We got the button. Thanks John. Okay, bye bye, bye bye. Unfortunately, George, if you hold over, I will take one more call of George on the other side of the ten o'clock news. But I don't want to cram and George. I'll take you on the other side if you'd like, stay with us back on night side. If you want to continue this conversation for a little bit, I'm more than happy to open up some more lines